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Friday, 15 May 2009

London Hosts Centenary Manwha Exhibition

The Korea Creative Content Agency and Korean Cultural Centre UK have announced a celebration of the centenary of Korean comics, known as manhwa, with a host of interrelated special exhibitions, events and film screenings, starting next week.

Manhwa: A Language of Unlimited Imaginations, which opens on 21 May, celebrates manwha's 100th anniversary, a popular art form in Korea which began with the first publication of Doyoung Lee's political cartoons in the newspaper Daehanminbo, which was founded on 2nd June 1909.

As an art form, manhwa is used to comment on a wide variety of topics. It can often spotlight societal injustices. Sometimes, manhwa tells marvelous tales of dreamy romance. At other times, the art form simply uses its simplified figures and their exaggerated gestures to provide amusement and entertainment.

To this day, as with western comics, manhwa continues to evolve and hold a special place within the hearts and minds of Korean society.

The history of manhwa highlights unique traits within each distinct era of Korean history, and the exhibition throws light on how authors of each generation interacted with the public. Following its birth, manhwa had to endure Korea's tumultuous history under Japanese colonial rule, then survive the country's national liberation, the dark years of the Korean War, and through the dismal military dictatorship.

The 1980's and 90's marked the renaissance of manhwa, while new work from 2000 onwards employs digital media technology offering exhibition visitors the opportunity to interpret present-day Korean comics in a new light and, perhaps, even predict the industry's future.

Within the exhibtion are two special displays. Art Toon Art brings together the work of 12 artists, including Dong-Hwa Kim and Young-Ok Kim, whose work pushes the boundaries of conventional comic book art humorously by reinterpreting famous masterpieces. This small display is derived from the exhibition Masterpieces Meet Comics, which is held annually in Korea and is based on the theme of convergence between comics and art.

Manhwa Illustrations offers a small collection of work by famous graphic illustrators including Min-Woo Hyung and Kwang-Mook Lim, shown together for the first time.

• Manhwa 100: A Centenary of Korean Comics runs from 21 May - 24 June at the Korean Cultural Centre UK, Grand Buildings, 1 - 3 Strand, London WC2N 5BW Tel: 020 7004 2600. Web Link: http://london.korean-culture.org• A number of tie-in events have also been scheduled: see details below.Events

• Meet Korean Manhwa Artist Chul-Ho ParkWednesday 20 May 6.30-7pm

• Live Drawing Performance & Workshop with Manhwa Artist Chul-Ho ParkThursday 21 May 2-3.30pmManhwa artist Chul-Ho Park leads a live drawing workshop with London based journalist and leading authority on Asian comics Paul Gravett.

• Manhwa BangBang is the Korean word for room. It's a social space where you can hang out with friends and read a wide variety of Korean Manhwa.

Film ScreeningsAdmission to the films is free but tickets must be booked in advance with the Korean Cultural Centre. Tel: 020 7004 2600

• The War of FlowerFriday 22 May 4pmVenue: Cinema Hall, Korean Cultural Centre UKGo-Ni loses his entire savings and the money that he stole from his sister in the high stakes card game known as "Hwatu." Go-Ni figures out shortly after the game that he was swindled and he spends the next six months tracking down the person that robbed him of his money. Starring Seung-Woo Cho, Hye-Su Kim, Yun-Shik Baek.South Korea 2006 Dir. Dong-Hun Choi (English Subtitles) 139 min

The site downthetubes.net, which began publishing in 1999, is edited by John Freeman whose credits include editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, Star Wars Magazine, and Marvel UK titles such as Overkill, Death's Head II, Warheads and others. He's currently editor of the upcoming Strip Magazine for Print Media Productions.

About the Writers:

• Matthew Badham has written features for Judge Dredd: The Megazine, the Forbidden Planet International blog and more

• Jeremy Briggs contributes news, reviews, interviews and historical articles on British comics. He is a guest writer on Steve Holland's UK comics history blog, Bear Alley, and has written for Comics International, TV Zone, Spaceship Away and Omnivistascope.

• David Hailwood has written comic strips for various publications, including TOXIC, Accent UK, Bulletproof and Futurequake. He also writes comedy material for TV, and regularly contributes to the Temple APA (a showcase for UK comic writers and artists).

• Andy Luke is a writer who draws: he's s created the eponymous Andy Luke's Comic Book, Gran, Absence: a comic about epilepsy, Hold the Phones, It's Alex Jones, and graphic novel, The Watch Thief. He's written about comics too, mainly for Bugpowder.com, and has been involved with the Caption comics festival in Oxford. He currently lives in Belfast with a large box of pasta and a 7ft tall cigarette, and can be found online at http://andy-luke.com and http://awriterwhodraws.com

• Ian Wheeler is a freelance writer who also edited the highly-acclaimed British comics fanzine Eagle Flies Again.